Dusk
by iSpecs
Summary: Oh my god man, she’s actually looking at you. Elizabeth Cullen is actually checking you out!” Eric said, finally noticing where I had been looking.' As Ben starts his first day at Forks High, he'll soon learn not all is as it seems in the small town. AU
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Twilight novels or the characters and events contained therein so don't sue me for copyright infringement.

Author's Note: Hey everyone. It's been a long time since I've written anything (was in a major slump for a few months and just couldn't churn out a thing) but after a long hiatus I'm finally back. Anyways, after reading the Twilight novels over the last few months, I had a question form in my head: what would it have been like if the three main characters of the story became the opposite sex than what they are originally. I began to dwell on that thought for a pretty long while, eventually leading me to write down a few plot lines that just seemed to stick with me. So, after a long bit of brainstorming, I finally give you the first chapter of Dusk.

As always, if you like it or hate it, just drop me a review and tell me what you think.

- Noah

* * *

_I got a feeling_

_That tonight's gonna be a good night_

_That tonight's gonna be a good night_

_That tonight's gonna be a good good night_

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are beginning our final approach on Seattle and ask at this time that you return all seats and tray tables to their upright position as we prepare to land. Have a wonderful stay here in Washington and thanks for flying American. Good night." The stewardess at the front of the cabin looked haggard as she spoke her routine announcement, sharing the same weak and worn eyes as the rest of the few passengers who were still awake at this early hour. All around me the cabin was filled with the noise of the travelers who had already awoken and were now rousing the others; a dull murmur as the fifty or so of us slowly came back to life.

The sky outside was still black, obscuring everything but a few glimpses of the flickering lights of the city we were fast approaching. It was maybe a little after midnight now and there was supposed to be the same cloud cover over the bay all night, giving me a good six hours to make my journey west and into the impenetrable fog before the day finally broke.

_'West out to the Olympic Peninsula and then… home.' _I thought; breathing in noiselessly and tasting the stale oxygen that had been pumping through the plane for the last three hours since the flight began. It was scented with the taste of my fellow passengers, a murky and musky aroma filled with each individual odor that hung from their skins like a shroud. Had I not been used to such an… overwhelming bouquet it might have piqued my interests but nowadays it was just normality for me. So instead of dwelling on it I just let my mind drift back to my final destination.

The Olympic Peninsula was a damp mess of overgrown trees and mosses that covered the northwestern corner of Washington like a wet green blanket that will probably never lift. It was a small area... but underneath the shade of a nearly constant mist-heavy fog and shrouding forests were many small towns just like the one I was heading to tonight.

"You've been silent tonight, Ben." A soft squeeze of my right hand and a whisper of a distinctly feminine voice in my ear brought me out of the inwardly reflective state I had been locked in for the last few hours. With a weary smile I turned to face the young woman sitting on my right, a mess of pixie cut hair framing the golden irises that rested in the middle of her face. There was a seductive depth to those eyes, a betrayal of the lie of just how old she really was. The eyes gave her face an unshakable sensation of suspicious intrigue even now, after all this time I had known her.

"Just thinking…" I responded minutely, absentmindedly gazing down at the radiant ring on her finger and then letting my eyes drift back up to hers.

With a smile she laid her head down on my shoulder, her fingers lacing themselves in with mine as I breathed in once more to taste her unique aroma. "I can't wait to be back. It's been a long time since we've been home, hasn't it?"

"Yeah… It really has." I replied, knowing her thoughts mirrored mine as I softly kissed her head. There was something right about that moment for me, something that reminded me of all the other thousands of nights just like this that had brought me to this very minute in time. It was something that reminded me of days running through the endless evergreen forests with her like the whole world was ours alone, of nights spent holding her in my arms while we thought of our intertwined future, of years passing by as the two of us were left outside of its heavy flow. It was something that reminded me of home.

With a smile, I once again just kissed her head and thought back to my first day in Forks.

~*~

Dusk

~*~

February 7th, 2007

"Are you sure that you want to do this, Benjamin? I promise I won't say a thing if you wanna change your mind now." My mom said, cupping my face in her hands as she looked up at me, a worried look framing her usually vibrant face. Her hands felt cold and clammy, a weirdly out of place feeling considering the harsh desert sun that had been beating down over me, her and all the rest of Arizona now for the last three hours since sunrise. By comparison the radiant orange glow that was shimmering down upon us was a perfectly warm sensation as it washed over me.

"Trust me; this isn't going to be the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I still maintain that little honor will forever belong to the day that I was born but I'm waiting to reserve final judgment until I go bald." I replied sarcastically as I smiled brightly, the grip on my suitcase tightening as I once again thought about what I could easily classify as probably one of the most moronic decisions I have ever made. Today was the day that I was moving in with my dad. Today was the day that I was moving to Washington.

"I just wish you'd take a little while longer to think about it though." Renee, my mom, responded as she finally let go of my face, freeing me once more to keep loading the little bit of luggage I had into the back of her car for the drive to Phoenix International. Even while trying to keep up this charade of happiness and assurance on my decision for Mom's sake, I couldn't help but want to let out at least a tiny little sigh of discontent as I thought back to why exactly I had come to this decision. It had all started when she had married the man who was my new step-dad: Phil Dwyer. Now, it wasn't that I actually had anything against the guy; he seemed decent enough and it did look like he was really in love with Mom… no, I guess the problem was really me.

Phil was a minor league baseball player, meaning that his life consisted of traveling around the country so, thanks to me being in high school still and effectively rooting my mom to Phoenix, they had not seen much of each other since getting married. And so, instead of keeping her from Phil, I had decided a few months ago to just take one for team Mom and ask my dad to let me move in with him a thousand miles away from my true hometown. Thus, here I was in my current little predicament.

"Believe me, I've thought about this as long as I needed to." I answered, forcing another broad smile as I closed the trunk door and tossed her keys back to her.

"I know. It's just that Washington is so far away and I feel like I'll never get to see you again."

"Well now that you mentioned it, I was going to change my number when I got there…" I quipped with another smile.

"Benjamin Swan, I'm serious." She responded, her tone dropping even further from its already worriedly depressed tenor.

"I know, Mom. Look, I get it that you're worried I'll grow roots into Washington soil but – and trust me when I say this because I don't want to have to repeat myself again – I'll still talk to you _all the time_." I responded, planting a quick kiss on her forehead as I shoved her to her side of the car. "Now come on, I don't want to miss the flight." While I could honestly say that every part of me did want to miss the flight and stay here in Phoenix, I wasn't doing this for me today. Instead, I was getting ready to leave my home for Washington.

(I)

Forks; the rain-soaked hideaway nestled within the Olympic Peninsula that I was banishing myself to. Compared to Phoenix, life in Forks was like stepping out foreign world instead of moving in with my dad. Whereas Arizona was bright, vibrant and – most of all – warm, my new home was subdued, moist and had always left me with a chill in my bones over the few times I had spent time with my dad over summer. That part of Washington was always covered in a thick veil of smoky grey fog and mist that seemed to soak into my skin each time I breathed in the air. It was a feeling I hated, a slimy sensation that just… irked me. But, it was a feeling I was going to have to get used to for a while.

"How was your flight, kid?" Driving me to my place of self-exile was my dad Charlie, also known as Chief Swan to the rest of my new hometown. Like me he had what Mom had always called the 'Swan Men Genes', meaning the same chocolate brown eyes and shaggy dark hair with a perpetually serious look that seemed to be set in to our faces even when we smiled. The only major difference between the two of us was the Tom Selleck moustache he had had apparently since I was born. Standing side by side with my parents, it didn't take a super genius to figure out which one I had taken after. We had never really been close… I guess it kind of came with me living with Mom pretty much all of my life so far. He had always seemed like a good person though; although maybe I thought this just because he was willing to put up with me for at least the next few years without really knowing me.

"It was alright." I replied simply, not wanting to incite a conversation any more than he did. "The one to Seattle was kind of cool, watching the scenery change and all..."

"Yeah." This is why I wished I could have just flown to the Forks Airport from Seattle. I had dreaded this stupid hour-long ride back to his house ever since I had convinced myself that moving in with him was a good thing. I was never any good when it came to making small talk with people I didn't know; it just seemed too awkward to me trying to force out words when they really shouldn't be spoken. "So… how's–"

"Mom's doing good. So is Phil." I answered a little more tersely than I meant to. I knew what he was going to ask so I just saved him the trouble. Thanks to the way it had ended between Renee and Charlie, any time one mentioned the other there was always just one gigantic freaking elephant sitting in the room… namely me. Otherwise, I don't think they would have ever had another reason to think about each other after she ran away from him. "… She's planning on following him around for tryouts over this season, I think."

"Good. That's good to hear." He murmured, keeping his eyes fully locked on the road like he was watching for the return of Jesus in the middle of the street. "Oh yeah, you remember Billy right?"

I had no idea who 'Billy' was nor did I really care right then. I just wanted the damn car to pull into his driveway so I could excuse myself until the air cleared itself. "The name sounds familiar." I lied half-heartedly.

"Figured you'd probably remember him. You've always had a good memory." Except for now, when I couldn't remember why I had talked myself into something as moving away from my nice warm city to the middle of mist-soaked nowhere and in with my dad who I had maybe spent 3 months with out of my whole life so far. Yeah, I had a stellar memory. "Yeah, Billy Black; my fishing buddy. You used to play with his youngest daughter Jessie back when you were little. I remember you two looked so cute climbing on logs out behind the house."

"Oh yeah, Jessie, right." Now I was still lying but doing it with awkward embarrassment.

"Well… I figured you'd need a good vehicle to get around so I kinda talked him into selling me his old truck."

"Seriously?" I nearly spat at him, choking on the soda I had been sipping on since I got off the second plane in Port Angeles. "Th-thanks, that's awesome!" I didn't even have my own car when I was living with my mom and Phil.

"I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty old but it'll run and get you to where you need to go." He said so matter-of-factly.

"Thank you." I replied calmly. With that, I just leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, a small smile stretching across my face as the thought that it might not be as bad here as I had constantly thought it to be suddenly dawned on me.

(I)

"Well this is it." Charlie said as he pushed open the door to what would be my room until after I graduated.

Even though I had spent each summer until I was twelve that I had spent in Forks sleeping in this bedroom, it seemed different from what I remembered from the sparse days of my childhood here. The walls were painted a light green, like they had once been the same deep shade of the trees outside my window but had faded over the years since Mom had run away. It was a very bare room right now with nothing adorning it save the bed in the center of the room and the small wooden desk pushed up along the corner of the room next to the window. On the bed was a dark brown quilt with a plaid scheme of various greens, browns, and reds criss-crossing all over it and the sheets underneath were a deep red color, keeping with the woodland feel of the room. The headboard of the bed, however, was surprisingly ornate considering the rest of the room as the top of it curved upward until it formed a crescent moon sitting on top of it. The whole board was made of a darkly stained wood and gave a very… appropriately ominous feel to the room, I felt.

"I know it doesn't really look like much but we'll go get you some stuff so you can decorate it how you like." It was clear he was trying to help me get accustomed to a situation neither of us knew how to really deal with yet.

"It's great. I like it." I responded with a smile as I walked over and set my few bags on the bed. Truth be told, I actually did like the room. It was subdued; every color in the place gave it an unexcited and kind of natural feel to it which seemed to fit me right then. Even the placement of the bed and the desk even seemed right. Pretty much the only thing in the room that seemed out of place was me.

Charlie seemed a little taken back by my surprising acceptance of the room, a little flustered. However, instead of pressing the issue any further he just nodded and grabbed the door. "Well then I'll be downstairs if you need anything." Closing the door behind him, he left me alone to my own devices.

The squeal of brakes outside my window an hour later brought me out of my unpacking, piquing my interest just enough to get me to head downstairs for the first time since I got here. Charlie was getting up from the couch, the sound having broken him from the spell of the Mariners game I could hear up in my room all afternoon. With a toothy grin from under his thick moustache he opened the front door right as I reached the bottom step, gesturing me to come outside with him as he did so.

"You're just in time, Billy. Top of the fourth, Mariners up by 2." Charlie said ecstatically as we stepped outside. Parked in the front drive was an old Chevy truck, one from the mid-fifties by the looks of it. It had a solid red paint job running from the painted white front bumper all the way past its round headlights and down the sides of the bed, which was a longer than usual model to provide a great bit of functionality to it. The thing was a real piece of beauty, a testament of American engineering from a bygone era, a solid piece of red metal that could probably have been sideswiped and drove away without a scratch on her.

"Two more hours of good play then. Let's hurry up then." Around the back of the truck came two people: one of them a Quileute man in a wheelchair and the other a girl that was maybe a year or two younger than me.

I could guess that these two were Billy and Jessie, the two people that Charlie had mentioned earlier today. The man was an older man, maybe in his mid-fifties now as his face showed the long fatigue that came with a weary life. He had long black hair that fell straight down past his shoulders and framed his seemingly hard face, especially around his dark brown eyes. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a red undershirt under a woven black jacket with a black cowboy hat on, conjuring images of a old ranch-hand that had long since hung up his saddle.

"Billy, Jessie; you remember Ben, right?" Charlie said, introducing the three of us with a simple gesture of his free hand.

I smiled and waved wearily but a little more goofily, my attention more drawn to the girl pushing her father's wheelchair than anything else right then. Jessie, like her father, had skin that was a deep russet brown and the same striking brown eyes that Billy had but there was a natural… softness to her features that I couldn't imagine on her father. She had dark hazel lips that were just a little bit darker than the rest of her face, like a just barely deceptive shadow was cast over them and made them seem just a hair fuller than they really were. Her hair, though the same solid ebon shade as her father's, hung down only to her chin where she had cut it off a bit short and layered it to give her face an almost heart-shaped appearance, accentuating her features just a little bit more. She was wearing a pair of slightly baggy black jeans with a purple baby tee underneath an unzipped gray hoodie, all of which seemed to hang in just the right way from her.

"Well you've certainly grown since the last time I saw you, kiddo." Billy said as I reached out and shook his hand, feeling the worn calluses on his fingers as I did so. "I remember when you and Jessie used to go climbing stuff in the forest together. You were so small back then I wondered if you'd ever get as tall as your old man but here you are."

I silently wondered if everyone in Forks had the same memory of me and Jessie playing together. It wasn't a happy thought to entertain. My eyes connected with Jessie's for a second only for her to give me the same nod of embarrassment as our parents seemed fixated on these old memories.

"Well here she is, Charlie. Everything's been fixed and the truck's running like a charm. It's not exactly the fastest wagon on the road but it'll get him where he needs to go." Billy said, turning his attention back to my dad as he threw him the keys to the truck.

"Perfect," Charlie looked back at me, holding the keys out in his hand. "Take care of her, Ben; and she's yours for as long as you want." A smile started to rise on my cheeks as I took the keys from his hand and I thanked both him and Billy profusely for the gift. The truck was exactly the kind of style that fit me, a little bit different. "Now, let's get inside. I don't wanna miss any more of the game than I have to. Billy, you want a beer?"

Charlie took the handles of Billy's wheelchair and pushed him through the front door, leaving me alone in the front drive with Jessie and my new truck. I didn't really know what to say; I had never been the most popular guy back in Phoenix. I had a little better natural disposition for sports compared to some of the other kids back in school – unlike my mom I actually had a little bit of balance meaning I wasn't nearly as klutzy as she could be sometimes – so I was accepted in at least a few circles but I had always felt a little more like an outsider back in my hometown. I didn't know how to relate to the teenagers I had shared classes with, didn't know how to really talk to them which meant I had always been at a distance from everyone else in my former high school. Sure, I had had a few friends but they were never anything to write home about.

"So…" I started out, a little uncomfortable.

"You really don't remember me at all, do you?" Jessie said with a smile, her pearly white teeth seeming even more vibrant when compared to the dark shade on her lips. Her voice had the same soft quality that her features possessed, a kind of hidden subtleness to them I didn't understand. "Doesn't surprise me; I think the last time we played together you were five at the time. Dad's right, you really have grown since then, though. Okay then; I'm Jessie. It's a pleasure to re-meet you, Ben." She finished with a sarcastic but playful tone, doing a little curtsey.

"Pleasure to meet you, too." I replied, leaning back against the truck, smiling a little easier. "Oh yeah, what did your dad fix on the truck?" I asked, remembering what Billy had said to Charlie in case anything went wrong. I didn't know cars at all but at least I would know what to tell the mechanic if I had to take it in at all. However, given the fact that this thing was older than my dad and still apparently ran without any problems, I highly doubted it would come to it.

"Actually, I fixed it." She responded, beaming with pride. "I did everything to it right down to the oil change. Dad taught me how to fix cars back when I was little so I replaced most of the older parts and rebuilt the engine as it needed it. The air filter's new too so you should have a good flow going through there."

"Th-thanks, that's great to hear." I flustered. "You really did all that?"

"Well… it was actually supposed to become my car when I turn seventeen later this year but Billy decided to sell it."

I knew I was frowning with anxious embarrassment as soon as she said those words. "Oh… I'm sorry. I didn't know–"

"I can stop you right there; I'm glad he sold it. All it means is that I get to get something even better whenever my birthday rolls around so I'm happy to give it up." She chipped in with a broad smile, folding her arms over her chest as she leaned back against the truck beside me. From inside the house a roar of cheers erupted from Billy and Charlie as I could only assume the Mariners scored another run. Jessie meanwhile just looked annoyed more than anything. "Sounds like they're going to be in there for a while since Dad won't want to leave while the game is on. Too bad, I've never been big on baseball."

"Yeah…"

"Hey, why don't we just take this old girl for a test drive? We can talk a little and I'll show you around Forks while they're glued to the game."

"That actually sounds great." I finished, a bit of a dorky smirk rising once again on my cheeks as I gave her the keys and opened the driver's side door for her. Taking one more look at my house I just nodded and climbed in the other side of the truck.

* * *

From Noah: Well there you go, that's the prologue/chapter 1 for you. Quick heads-up in case anyone's thinking it, yes I do know that Jacob was originally two to three years younger than Bella but I felt it would flow a little easier in the story if Jessie was only a year younger than Ben. Anyways, I hope you liked it. Just drop me a review and tell me what you think. Peace.


	2. Chapter 1: You Know What They Say

Hey: I'm back with what is truly the first chapter of this since I only ever felt like what was already up was just an introduction (which sadly half of this is too but it has to be gotten out of the way). Anyways, here we go.

* * *

"_Like I said earlier the place isn't all bad but it really can be kinda weird around here if you're not used to it. But seriously Ben, even if you feel outta place around here you just have to remember__ one thing and only one thing: it's only temporary. I mean look at me. I've grown up in La Push, spent every moment of my life in this state since the day I was born. But sooner or later, when I'm all grown up and finished with high school I'm gonna make a break for it like the cops are chasing me." Jessie said with a serious expression holding on her hazel lips as she rounded a corner and turned into another unfamiliar neighborhood. "I'm serious. When I go off to college, I'm not gonna just go to some local place like Seattle or Olympia; I'll drive until the only time I see the res is when I look it up on the internet." _

_"Trust me. I've lived so many different places in my life that I can say this with one hundred percent assurance: it's all the same out there. The only thing that ever really changes is the people…" I replied glancing lazily at some of the houses we were passing by. Jessie and I had been in the car for nearly four hours straight now, giving us the chance to really talk as she helped to really acquaint me with the roads and lanes of Forks from the back edges of the town all the way out to the reservation so she could show me where she and Billy lived. "… But I guess that staying anywhere too long can get stale, especially someplace as small as Forks."_

_"Is that why you left Phoenix?" She asked, glancing over at me as the truck continued to drift down the road._

_"I don't know, really. I keep telling myself that it was to give mom and her husband their space since I've only got another year and a half to go but I guess I really didn't think it through. Maybe I'd be better back in Arizona." I answered honestly after a small pause, thinking about each of my words carefully. It felt weird to me that I was sharing my own thoughts so easily with Jessie but maybe I just wanted to talk about my side for the first time in a while. And since I didn't do that with Mom and wasn't ready to with Charlie it really left her as the only option. _

"_I just don't know. But it really doesn't matter now when you think about it. I'm here at least until graduation. And hell, if I survive this place until then, well the door's pretty much open and I'll go from there."_

"_I hear that." She murmured, turning her attention back to the road. "Well it's starting to get late. We should probably head back to your house before Charlie gets the whole force out looking for us."_

"_You mean the four officers and one clerk from his station?" I remarked with a sarcastic smirk._

"_Of course. They're as powerful as the C.I.A." Jessie answered with a chuckle, turning down a street that I recognized as my own. As we pulled up to my house, she just looked at me once more, her expression turning back a little more serious as we came to a stop. "But just remember what I showed you today. It's really easy to get lost around here if you don't pay attention. Other than that, if you need anything just give me a call, okay?"_

"_Sure thing… Thanks for the heads up." I finished, the two of us climbing out of the truck. _

Chapter 1: You Know What They Say About Staring At The Sun

February 8th, 2007

The truck felt right as it drifted along slowly toward my new high school, carrying my hesitant and sleep-deprived body to my first day as a Forks High Spartan. I ended up spending most of the afternoon letting Jessie take me all around the town to show me each little street and road as we talked about everything from my old life in Phoenix to what it was like growing up in La Push to Billy, Charlie, Renee and Phil. From music like Beck and Tracy Chapman to movies from one genre to the other and then the conversation shifted again. She told me about fixing cars and how to repair an engine and I told her about making amateur zombie films with my old friends in Arizona. We talked like old friends even though to me it was like the first time I met her. To me it was peaceful… a good welcome to my new city.

As I continued down the road the sky overhead was once again gray. It was a dark and foreboding shade that seemed to mirror my feelings about starting at my new school today. Down the road I could see the relatively unhidden Forks High looming like a giant multicolored headstone that just screamed 'Here lays you'. Pulling into the parking lot, I could not help but breathe a sigh of discontent as I shut off my truck's engine and sat there for a moment, gathering myself. I was dressed in a pair of old jeans and a green button-up with an old faded brown hoodie over it which only served to make me seem even paler than I already was. I wanted to look normal today… to look a little less foreign and a little more like I fit in with this town. Throw in the fact that it was Washington was like one giant icebox compared to my warm and sunny Phoenix and the sweatshirt was definitely necessary.

"Okay… I'll be just fine today. It's just high school." I told myself through deep breaths, pulling all of my discordant thoughts together. Slipping my MP3 into my pocket and grabbing my canvas bag, I just inhaled once more and then opened the door.

(I)

"Can I help you?" The receptionist of the front desk asked as I walked tentatively up to it, keeping her face glued to the computer screen on it like I wasn't worth looking up at. As I made my way into the school I had caught a few glances from the boys and girls that lined the halls and parking lot. It felt like each of them was whispering as he or she took a look at the new kid, passing their hushed questions to their friends and classmates as I made my way past them. I didn't think I wanted to know what they were talking about; I was already too uncomfortable to want to dwell on it.

"Umm… I'm supposed to be starting here today. I'm Benjamin Swan?" I responded with an unsure look plastered on my brows.

With that the receptionist looked up from her computer. She looked old, possibly in her mid seventies already, with a mess of gray hair that she had done up in a bun that made me think back to pictures I'd seen of flight attendants from the 1950s. "Ah yes, Mr. Swan. Your father already filled out the papers to get you registered yesterday and we have a list of classes still needed from your old school in Phoenix. Currently you have Government and Economics in the morning, followed by Physical Education, English Literature after your lunch period and then finish with Biology. Due to the fact that we're already more than a month into the semester, you will unfortunately not be given the chance to change around your schedule." Damn it all, I had wanted to pick out my schedule myself but at least I wasn't stuck with any math as I had finished it in some advanced measures back in Arizona. "In a minute our office aide, Eric, will be along and he will be escorting you to your classes today and making sure you are all set."

"Did you need something Ms. Benson?" Asked a boy's voice from behind me.

"Ah and there you are right on cue. Mr. Yorkie, would you kindly give Benjamin a tour of the school buildings and then take him to his first class?" The geriatric office attendant's voice conveyed the same sense of annoyance that I had originally picked up from her, one only heightened as her jowls shook like a bulldog's. It reminded me a little of Richard Nixon.

"Sure thing," He replied, turning back to the door and gesturing for me to follow. Eric was a lanky guy with a thin face with dark eyes framed by black, slicked back hair that fell to his shoulders. He was about two or three inches taller than me. My first impression of him was that he seemed to be a little nerdy but a rather bubbly kind of guy.

"So you're really the police chief's son?" He asked as soon as we were clear of the office.

"Yeah… but how did you know that?"

"Small town, man. Word gets around fast when it comes to gossip and news. By the way, the name's Eric." He said, offering me his free hand. "You're Benjamin, right?"

"Actually it's just Ben."

"Cool man. Well anyways, I'll be your guide to this little part of Washington." He threw his arms out, gesturing broadly as we walked past a group of girls that I couldn't help but notice started to laugh and murmur among themselves, pointing at the oblivious Eric. Honestly I just wanted to hide my head in my shirt, sneak my way back to my truck and disappear into the woods for a few years. "Okay let's get you started. First off, you gotta know this school is kinda small like the rest of the town. Everyone here knows everyone else so just get used to people already knowing who you are because it's gonna happen a lot. Now, don't get too depressed about it though because you're new so they're all gonna want to know just who you are so you can just consider yourself 'in' around here. You're new so you're this week's flavor, man."

"… Huh." I replied uninterestedly. I actually hated the idea of every person in the school trying to play twenty questions with me just because I was new here but my overly-excited tour guide seemed to want to gush about it so I just let him continue on.

"Now then, we're inside the main building right here and this is where you'll find most of your classrooms. We've actually got a couple of different buildings scattered across the campus but it's not that hard to find your way around." He spoke. As we turned down a narrow hall away from the gym, I couldn't help but notice that he what he said was kind of proving true as each set of eyes seemed to drift in his and my direction as we made our way past groups of kids all generally around my age. Some of them seemed interested; there were a few flirtatious glances cast here and there from girls I had never met before but even without them it just seemed like everybody was at least taking notice of me. To tell the truth, I wished they wouldn't. I couldn't blend in like this. It was throwing a major and unwanted wrench in my plans for the next few months of school until I got comfortable with Forks. So instead of returning any of their sideways looks, I just kept my eyes focused down the hall and followed Eric with trepidation.

"Well here we go: Government and Economics with Mr. Branigan. It's a boring class but you can usually sleep through G and E so it's great for first thing in the morning." Eric stated after another few minutes of unintentionally (or maybe it was intentional, I've never been sure) parading me around the halls like a trophy. When we got to the door, he pulled a small slip of paper from his pocket and offered it to me. "Just give this to each of your teachers today and have them sign it then bring it back to the office at the end of the day. Got that all?"

"Teachers sign, I take it back to the office," I repeated, adjusting my grip on my canvas bag as my free hand nervously twitched a little. I knew that once I got past today it would be a little bit easier to keep coming to school here but that still meant I had another seven hours of 'You must be new around here' to deal with. "Well… thanks for the tour."

"No problem, bro." He finished. "Anyways, I'll see you later on today. We've got the same lunch so we'll just hang out then."

"Sounds good." I replied honestly. Eric didn't seem that bad so at least I wouldn't be the new kid sitting alone at lunch. With him I could at least blend a little better.

"That's what I like to hear."

He turned and walked away, leaving me standing outside the door to my first class. Despite everything in me that just wanted to say screw it and take the next flight out of Seattle, I breathed in deeply and opened the door.

(I)

"I'm telling you Ben, you really should try to get into athletics instead of just P.E." I was being led to the cafeteria by one of my new classmates for my gym class, a guy that I had pegged as the apparent athlete of the school named Tyler. He was about my height with a dark tan that seemed almost unnatural here in Forks as the town was almost perpetually hidden from the sun. Tyler had light hazel eyes and a well-defined face and body to give him decent looks but he was definitely aware of it. He seemed a little too sure of himself; a little too self-indulgent from the way he strutted around the halls to the way he made sure to catch the eye of every cute girl that we passed on the way to lunch.

"I think I'll just stick with it for now…" I murmured, letting him lead the way as we headed for a table near the back wall of the lunchroom.

"But you could be great, Arizona. Seriously, with your height and handles you could dominate out here. Come on, you were probably kickass back where you came from." Tyler responded using the nickname he had already chosen for me. I had known plenty of people that gave me the exact same vibe as him back when I lived in Phoenix. I never really liked any of them, never had a reason to socialize with them as my old school had nearly five thousand students in it so I could handily avoid any of them without a second glance. In a school this size though there was no escaping anyone.

"Actually I never really got into basketball." I lied. I actually loved to play but I didn't want to commit myself to anything right then.

"Whatever. Just tellin' you right now you should. Tell you what, give it a week and I can bet you you'll be bored enough with that class to listen to me. " He finished, sitting down at the table we had been walking to.

The table he led me to had maybe a half dozen other people sitting at it spaced out. On the right side of the table were three people, one of which I vaguely remembered as a girl from my Government class that I thought was named Angela or something like that. She had seemed rather quiet back in class but she was one of my only new classmates so far that had not tried to engage me besides introducing herself which was something I already liked about her. On her left sat a rather short girl with a shock of curly brown hair and further down was the somewhat familiar frame and slicked-back hair of the guy that had shown me around campus today, Eric. "Yo Mike, did you finish the homework for U.S. History? I gotta get it done before lunch is over."

"Copy fast." Across from Eric and Angela sat two other people, a guy and a girl who both looked from me to Tyler as I quietly sat down at the table. The guy named Mike had pale blonde hair and clear blue eyes as well as the kind of farm-boy good looks that told me he was probably one of the more popular people around here. Beside him sat a girl with thin features and cornsilk hair that flowed down to her shoulders. "So you must be Ben." He said with a warm smile.

"Yeah; pleasure to meet you." I replied, shaking his hand as I sat down across from Eric.

"Welcome to Forks High, then. I'm Mike Newton; this is Lauren and across we've got Angela, Jessica, and Eric." He responded, gesturing to the girl sitting beside him and then the other side of the table before going back to the conversation he was having with Lauren before I sat down. I didn't really mind that he didn't try to engage me. Just by introducing himself and then going back to what he was doing, he didn't force me to try and know what he was talking about nor did he have to feign interest in whatever I had to say. It was straightforward and saved both of us some time. "So like I was saying I gotta get out and go do something so I figured why not head out to the Port if Dad doesn't give me a lot of hours next week…"

"So how's the first day treating you?" Eric asked me as we let Mike continue on, not really paying attention to him.

"Eh, it's high school. I have to admit it's a little weird being in a school like this one because there's almost no one here compared to what it was like Phoenix but it's not bad…" I said as I took a bite of the lunch I had brought with me.

"Makes sense. It's gotta be a completely different from the desert." He agreed with a smile. "So anyways, was I right or what?"

"About?"

"About everyone asking everything about you?"

"Oh that, yeah that's been about the case in both of my classes so far." I replied, glancing down the table at Tyler and Angela.

"Told you man, you're news this week so everyone's gonna talk about you until the subject dies down. But at least it looks like you're popular already." He responded, waving for me to lean in. "Between you and me, Jessica was talking about how she wanted to jump your bones when you and Tyler walked in. I don't know about you but I'd be kind of worried."

"Darn it, Eric; cut the crap already," Chimed in the girl that was sitting beside him that Mike had called Jessica as she slapped Eric across the back of the head, a slightly ticked look on her mousy cheeks. "Just ignore him; Eric's full of it. And by the way, I'm Jessica Stanley. Enjoying it here?"

"Nice to meet you and yeah little."

"Well it's cool to have a new face around here. The only new students we've had around here were the freshman class at the start of the school year." She spoke with a cheery face on her mousy cheeks. "So for a while, you're the excitement for us."

"Then I guess I'll have to live up to the hype." I replied sarcastically, taking a sip of my Coke.

"Oh speaking of classes man, I forgot to tell you earlier when I was showin' you around but we actually have the same Lit class after this with Ms. Bailey." Eric broke in.

"Sounds like fun; what is the class covering right now?" Back in Phoenix, my old English class went through a different book every month in addition to our regular studying so it was only natural to me to always have something I had to read. And since I had switched to a new school, my only assumption was that I was probably behind so no since in not getting ready for whatever it was.

"Well we're kind of slowly making it through Oedipus. Some pretty sick stuff, too." Eric came back with. Even though it wasn't my first choice, it was at least something I knew which meant I wouldn't have to learn new material while I was getting used to this place.

"… So what's your deal, Ben?" Jessica launched off again, forcing me to have two conversations with two people I did not really know at the same time. Eric was rattling off the plot of the old Greek tale and everything in it that grossed him out while I tried to at least pay attention to what Jessica was asking me.

"Er… I'm not sure what you mean."

"I mean why are you so white? You're practically a ghost and yet you say you just moved in from Phoenix? Shouldn't you be, like the tannest person at this table right now?" She asked, causing me to snort a little of the Coke I was sipping on.

"Oh that." I retorted with a laugh, easing up a little bit. Even though it was probably the most out of place feature of mine, she was the first person to actually point it today so it made me smile a little easier. "Yeah; you'd think I'd be just a perfect shade of light brown but I think I'm a genetic mix-up. I was one of the whitest people back in my old school so I've always just figured that either the sun hates me or my mom is part albino."

"Well at least you're honest about it. I hear Tyler actually uses spray-on for his," Jessica replied softly out of earshot of everyone else at the table but Eric and I. Both myself and Eric started chuckling almost painfully but forced ourselves not to laugh, each of us casting sideways glances down the table at the seemingly pretentious and very tan form of Tyler Crowley. Unsurprisingly, he remained unaware of what was being said down here about his ability to tan naturally. "But anyways, it's good to have you around here. It's good to see a new face every once in a while. And besides, I think you'll do just fine here."

"Thanks. Now do I actually get an award for being new because I have to start writing my acceptance speech then." I retorted a little sarcastically, starting to have fun talking with her and Eric.

"Of course you do! I thought I already told you what she wants to do with you, right?" Eric quipped, earning the back of his head another quick meeting with Jessica's ring-hand.

"Eric, I swear I'm going to kick the crap out of you for that…" She glowered.

"Well that's assuming you can actually throw your foot that high, midget." He snapped back with a chuckle.

"Uh I wouldn't insult the lady on her height, Eric. She still looks like she could take you." I responded, leaning back in my chair.

"You see? He gets it! He understands that exactly what I'll do to you if you don't knock off all the crap you've been pulling lately." Jessica said, starting to actually sound a little angry as she did so. Though I can only assume Eric meant his responses as good-natured banter or possibly really veiled flirting, I didn't think he understood when it was time to cut the girl some slack and, as a result, she really was starting to look a little more aggravated than just sarcastically annoyed. I had learned a long time ago when I needed to shut my mouth some times; it had saved my butt from unnecessary aggravation time and time again but it seemed like it was a lesson Eric hadn't picked up yet.

"Don't worry; I swear I won't tell my dad a thing if you do decide to kill him. In fact I can ev–"

I fell silent, unable to speak anymore because every fiber of my being was now wholly absorbed by what I was seeing.

Perfect. There was no other word that could more succinctly describe the five people that were entering the cafeteria from the far side of the room right now. There were three girls and two boys, each one of them a pale deity we mere mortals were unworthy to look upon. They all had the same remarkable pale skin, like unnaturally glimmering ivory that hung impeccably from their bones. Their features were so spotless that any of them could have made a model cry out of envy. Even the way they walked was seemingly other-worldly, a near-glide that was so graceful any of the five of them could have made his or her way into Julliard without ever saying a word.

I took in the impossible look of each of them as they came in, memorizing every single insignificant detail like I was being told how to breathe for the first time. The first one through the door was a petite girl with a perfect pixie cut of ebon hair that framed her angelic features as she nearly danced into the room. Following closely behind her was a lean man with a shock of honey gold hair framing his likewise perfectly pallid and thin face. As he followed the petite dancer, another young deity I could only assume was his twin sister entered the room, pushing back a strand of the radiant blonde hair that fell past her shoulders like silk. At her side was a man who was easily the largest of the pantheon, standing at least a good five or six inches taller than even me. He had the build of a power-lifter or body-builder with a head of short, curly dark hair.

Finally, I saw her.

She stepped through the doors, following the others but completely separate from them like they were simply announcing her presence with their lavish dances.

Stunning; that was what she was though the word stopped years away from ever possibly doing her justice. This girl was a goddess in her own right, a faultless heart-shaped face hidden beneath a crown of flawless bronze curls that fell down her back like veil, almost hiding her beauty from the rest of world. I could just barely make out the jewel-like eyes of what I thought was deep brown that lay shrouded in the light shadows of her face. She looked out of the world from those jewels, casting a simple but remarkable gaze that seemed to look straight through everything around her like there was no one else beside her in the room. From her eyes my stare drifted to the soft curve of her nose to the corners of her small and elegant lips as I watched the hypnotic way they stayed still and silent. Her lips held just the tiniest blush that remained absent from the rest of her ashen and ivory skin. I wanted to watch her for the rest of my life, wanted to see this poetic Aphrodite as her very steps inspired the world around her.

"Ben? Ben! Snap out of it, Arizona!" Eric said as he snapped her fingers in front of my face. After a second I seemed to come to, my attention once brought back to the real world though my gaze remained locked on the five seraphim making their way to an empty table distanced from the rest of the room.

"Who are they?" I asked, my mouth dry and voice almost weak. Both Jessica and Eric followed my gaze to them right as they sat down, Jessica's shoulders slumping as she saw where I was focused.

"Those are the Cullens: the devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful kings and queens of this place..." She murmured as my gaze came back to her and Eric. Eric was sitting there blushing deeply while Jessica had the same dejected look on her face that a good half of the other girls in the cafeteria had as well, one that I figured came from being outshined that much by someone of the Cullen girl's caliber. "On the left is Alice Cullen, followed by Jasper and Rosalie Hale. Carlisle Cullen and his wife apparently adopted them as kids. Next to Rosalie are Emmett and their sister Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth Cullen." I repeated in a near whisper. The name itself was as out of place as the young woman it belonged to, a refined and elegant name that felt like it belonged more to a Victorian-era noble lady than Generation Y high school student. I wondered silently where this Elizabeth had come from; wondered when she had come from and, most importantly, wondered why she had come here just to torment me by inconspicuously parading herself like an angel. "When did they move in?"

"About a year ago… their father is one of the doctors here in town. If you ever see him, you'll see where they all get their good looks from. The man is like a living Greek statue." Jessica replied, blushing as she took a bite of the sandwich in front of her. My gaze went back to the Cullen table. Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett were talking amongst themselves, their mouths moving almost imperceptibly as they discussed whatever it is that the divine talk about. In front of each of them sat a tray of food that was completely untouched as none of them even made an attempt to eat what they had bought. It was just one more thing to add to their mystique. "You know what's weird though; I heard that they're all together. As in together together."

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Like, the rumor is that the kids are all seeing each other. Intimately." Jessica replied, shaking her head at the thought. "No one knows if it's true or not but if I looked like one of them I know I wouldn't want to be with anyone who didn't look as good as I did. Anyways, the talk is that each of the Hales is seeing one of the Cullens. Well, except for Elizabeth. She apparently is all by herself."

"Really?" I responded a little more fervently.

"Ask all the questions about her you want, man; but trust me when I tell you there's no chance in hell you'll get anywhere with her. She doesn't date anybody around here much less really talk to anybody but her brothers and sisters. To tell you the she doesn't even look at the guys around here." Eric replied with a forced casual smoothness to his demeanor. "I bet she probably has a boyfriend that goes to UW or something."

Even with his voice filling my ears my entire attention was focused on the mesmerizing Cullen girl. My eyes watched her without a word, taking in every miniscule detail of her flawlessness.

"I wouldn't care if she dated me at all as long as she gave five minutes." Mike chimed in as Eric finished.

I looked at him and then back to her, only to see her glowering angrily at the side of Mike's oblivious face.

Instead of her looking silently at her brothers and sisters as she had done since she walked in, her eyes met mine for the first time. She stared at me almost cautiously and with a confused expression carefully contained in her piercingly dark eyes. It was a gaze that wrecked me fully, something that tore into me the way that no one else had in heaven knows how long. I don't know how long we stared at each other before I finally averted my eyes, her keeping that curious and puzzled gaze and me having whatever tellingly goofy looks I had plastered on my cheeks right then. It didn't feel right for me to look at her face to face, like I would go blind for looking at her any longer as though she was the sun. So instead of just staying there, I looked back down at my lunch.

"Oh my god man, she's actually looking at you. Elizabeth Cullen is actually checking you out!" Eric said, finally noticing where I had been looking. "Wow, I mean just wow!"

I remained silent as I kept my eyes down for the rest of lunch while the other people talked, not wanting to show the others at the table my visible embarrassment. Inwardly, I hoped I never had to see her again for fear of making a fool of myself.

(I)

"I still can't believe it! She watched you pretty much the whole lunch!" Eric exclaimed excitedly as we turned the corner out of English Literature, each of us headed for our next class. I had Biology next while he was walking to the gym for his P.E. and then I was done for the day, meaning that in about an hour I'd finally be done being the newest attraction around Forks High for the day. "I mean I knew you'd be popular around here man but I didn't think you'd actually get her looking at you. None of the Cullens ever pay any of us any real attention. Seriously, they're the model students in class but they don't come out to Mike's parties or hang out with anyone but themselves. But you come in and you get Elizabeth freaking Cullen staring at you."

"Eric!" I cried as I adjusted my messenger bag and slipped my hands into the pockets of my unzipped hoodie. He had not shut up about Elizabeth watching me since she first met eye contact more than an hour and a half earlier and now it was just becoming uncomfortable. "Just drop it dude…"

"But she's the most singularly unattainable girl in this whole town!"

"Drop. It." I said a little more forcefully.

For a second he looked like he was going to say something else but instead he just let his arms fall and remained silent. I was already beginning to like Eric; he was a bit of a spaz but low-key enough at times that I didn't feel like I was part of an entourage whenever I walked beside him in the hall. That was a definite plus to me in such unfamiliar surroundings.

"Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow man. See ya, man." I spoke as we made it to the biology classroom I had been wandering around looking for since we left the cafeteria.

"…Yeah."

With that he was gone, leaving me free to turn around and open the door into my third class of the day only to be greeted by the face of Elizabeth Cullen: the pale-skinned seraph that had haunted me with her piercing gaze all during lunch. The classroom was full save one seat right next to her, leading me to already connect the dots in my head, something I was truly loathe to do right now. I wanted to flip up my hood and slink back out of the room immediately; hightail it out and wait around until my final class of the day instead of having to sit next to a girl so beautiful it tormented me. But this was a high school and if I had learned anything in the last two and a half years I had spent in one it was that you were never truly at home in one until you were terrified, feeling awkward, and needed serious prescription medication.

"Are you Mr. Farnsworth?" I asked, keeping my stare locked on the teacher and off of the Cullen girl as best I could.

"Ah yes, you must be Benjamin Swan; welcome to the study of life. Now then, let's find you a seat." The aging professor said with an air of unnecessary mysticism. He was a gaunt man with a head that had been devoid of hair for a good number of years probably and a pair of remarkably thick glasses wrapped around a wrinkled old head. He was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a gray button-up underneath a white lab coat, as though it was necessary given his area of teaching expertise. Without even turning back to look at the class, I already knew exactly where he was going to put me. There was only one open seat right next to Elizabeth. "Good news, we have a chair for you. Miss Cullen, if you'll kindly indulge me and allow Mr. Swan the seat next to you?"

Without a word I moved through the rows to the small lab table where she sat, dropping my messenger bag at the side as I took my seat.

Unlike in the lunch room, it was as though she refused to look at me as I sat down. Her eyes remained locked on Mr. Farnsworth as he began today's lecture and she kept that stare with the utmost of focus. What amazed me more than anything was the fact that her entire body seemed locked in place as she stared at the teacher. Her chest stayed so completely still I wasn't even sure if she was breathing anymore and her arms lay perfectly flat on the black surface of the lab table. Her slender form was perfectly still, like she was a statue made of pale white rock.

"… Homeostasis is a term used to describe the body's constant attempts to regulate your temperature and other normalities. It is how our bodies use sweating and other normal procedures like that to keep everything right where it is supposed to be." Farnsworth spoke from the front of the classroom as I finally averted my eyes from her, still silently keeping her in the corner of my sight as I gave my attention to the teacher.

Almost as soon as I had turned away from her did she start moving again, her hands clenching the desk and then unclenching them as her she turned her head toward me to watch me with the same intensity I had felt back in the cafeteria. There was a cold fury in the glare she continuously shot me when she wasn't listening to Mr. Farnsworth. The two irises that I had originally thought to be a dark shade of brown were now noticeably black like a pair of jet gemstones focusing the icy concentration she held at me. I wondered silently what was going on in the mind that lay behind those ebon irises, wondered why I felt this deeply unnerving feeling of anger and fear just pouring off of her as she glared almost through me. I had originally thought she might have just been intrigued by me because I couldn't feel the full force of this stare of hers… but now I was cautious and tried to think about just what I might have done to offend her. Maybe she just naturally hated me.

The rest of the class period dragged on in slow torture as I watched her from the corner of my eye. Her behavior didn't change; she kept clutching at the desk as though she was holding on to it for dear life between bouts of glaring at me like the classroom was a Baptist church and I was Marilyn Manson. I felt like I was supposed to say something… supposed to try and apologize to her for whatever apparently grievous offense I had committed against her delicate sensibilities. The words, however, would not come. There was nothing I could think to speak so I just was left there to rot under her death-gaze.

Finally the bell rang such sweet release.

Before I could even grab my pack she was already out of her seat and moving like a bullet through a flock of doves, shooting off out of the room while the rest of the students covered her escape.

"You know what, screw this." I muttered as I grabbed my stuff as quickly as I could and took off after her, desperate to try and glean out some explanation in the way she walked.

Rocketing out of the halls after her, I forced myself not to run, to keep as low a key possible as I tried desperately to catch up with the girl that was already a half a hallway in front of me. She moved with a precognizant step of a fortune-telling belly dancer as though she was able to see each and every path that the students around her would take and twist her way around them without ever breaking step or losing that same grace that separated her from the simple humans that surrounded her. She tore across the halls, not running but hardly moving at a crawl as she made her way through the throngs of people toward the parking lot. I pushed after her, liquid determination seeping into every cell in my body as I was filled with a kind of uneasy nausea that I didn't understand.

As she raced out into the parking lot, I followed as closely as I could manage without breaking into a dead sprint. She crossed the lot without breaking stride, still out of my reach as she passed car after car and made her way to the back of the lot where a gleaming silver Volvo sat. Still not even bothering to turn back around she tore open the door to the car and climbed inside, the engine roaring to life a second later.

"Wait!" I shouted finally as I approached the car.

Her response was that same cold glare that she had shot at me back in class right before her squealing tires forced her to break the stare.

I watched her headlights until she was distant down the street before turning to head back to my truck.

I didn't know what was going on inside me; the way she watched me angrily made me felt dirty but filled with the same kind of rage that she had seemingly shown me. My hands curled up into a pair of fists as I dwelled more and more on her actions, grew more and more pissed off… more and more confused as to just why the hell she couldn't at least give me some amount of a response or at least acknowledge me as something more than just the disgusting smell under her nose. It bugged me, got under my skin like a tiny little insect that squirmed around and slowly climbed up to my brain. I wanted nothing more than to tear off a mirror from someone else's car and jump up and down on it until my legs were nothing but two long tubes of jell-o. Instead, I just kept walking until I got back to my truck and climbed up inside.

I took one long last look in the direction she had headed as my key slid into the ignition.

I couldn't explain why but once again I felt like crap about my decision to move here. "Fuck it all."

* * *

Noah: There you are; the first _real _chapter of this story. I can tell you right now not to make any assumptions as to why Elizabeth is acting like she is. All I will say is that Ben isn't Bella and leave it at that. Anyways, drop me a review and tell me what you thought. Peace.


End file.
